Good News On KLM Airlines

Published: June - 2000

Continuing subscribers know The Hunting Report has been in a protracted battle with KLM, the Dutch airline, over its treatment of hunters and their guns. The good news is, late last month KLM agreed to make all the changes in gun-handling procedures we asked them to make. Furthermore, at our urging, they have issued an airline-wide Station Handling Bulletin alerting all employees to the changes and putting them on notice that hunters and others with guns represent "valuable traffic" for KLM and its North American partner, Northwest Airlines. "We therefore require (emphasis ours) a professional attitude from all staff toward these passengers and the handling of their hunting equipment," the bulletin reads.

Here at The Hunting Report, we commend KLM for addressing the problems we brought to their attention. The changes they have announced are so progressive and accommodating of our special needs as hunters we think the airline deserves our support - provided, of course, the changes management has announced work their way down to rank-and-file employees. At this point, we are assuming they will.

Here are the major changes KLM has announced:

The airline has completely abandoned its advance-notice requirement of all hunters transporting guns and ammunition. Now, all you need to do is notify the counter person, on arrival at the airport, that one of your pieces of luggage is a firearm and that you have properly-packed ammunition in one of your bags. The change puts KLM in synch with the rest of the international aviation community.

Passengers transiting Amsterdam's Schipol Airport (which is everyone who flies KLM from the US, as well as most passengers elsewhere who are flying the airline outside Europe from a point within Europe) can verify, with a phone call, that their gun has been placed on the outgoing carrier. All one has to do is ask the KLM gate agent in Amsterdam to contact KLM Security at telephone number listed below.

KLM has also approved the transport of ammunition inside one's gun case, but here at........(continued)